Greg Bird

Greg Bird

Personal information
Born	(1984-02-10) 10 February 1984 (age 33) Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	102 kg (16 st 1 lb)
Playing information
Position	Lock, Second-row, Five-eighth
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2002–08 Cronulla Sharks 106 35 6 0 152 2009 Catalans Dragons 23 5 3 0 26 2010–16 Gold Coast Titans 129 15 19 2 100 2017– Catalans Dragons 4 1 0 0 4 Total 262 56 28 2 282 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 2007–12 NSW Country 3 0 0 0 0 2007–16 New South Wales 18 2 0 0 8 2007–13 Prime Minister's XIII 3 0 0 0 0 2007–15 Australia 17 4 0 0 16 2010–12 Indigenous All Stars 3 0 0 0 0
As of 26 March 2017 Source:

Greg Bird (born 10 February 1984) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Catalans Dragons in the Super League. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative lock or second-row forward, Bird previously played for the NRL's Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, and the Gold Coast Titans. Bird is in his second stint with Catalans, having previously played for the french-based club in 2009.

Born in Maitland, New South Wales, Bird played junior football for the West Maitland Red Dogs and Maitland Pumpkin Pickers before being signed by the Newcastle Knights. He played for the Knights' Harold Matthews and SG Ball teams before being signed by the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks. In 2001, while playing for Rutherford Technology High School, Bird was selected for the Australian Schoolboys team and captained the side.

In round 7 of the 2002 NRL season, Bird made his NRL debut for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs. In 2003, Bird became a regular first-grader for the Sharks.

In 2004, Bird obtained notoriety after kneeing South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Shane Marteene in the head during their round 4 clash, which resulted in him being sent off by the referee and being suspended from playing for 10 weeks. According to his agent, Gavin Orr, Bird had "said he copped a couple of blows to the face during the match and he got an elbow from Shane Marteene in the tackle and just lost it." Chief executive of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Steve Rogers, claimed that Bird had "been made an example of" and was angered that there "wasn't much consideration given to Greg's youth and his previous record". The judiciary stated that it took Bird's remorse and good record into account, but decided upon the lengthy suspension due to the severity of the offence. After the game Bird apologised to Marteene in the dressing rooms and also wrote letters to the player and the South Sydney Rabbitohs club.